Racing at the Beach: Daytona Boycotts & Brushes With Greatness, 1965-70
The Hemi Chryslers had dominated the 1964 Daytona Speedweeks, but it was a very different picture when the 1965 event rolled around.
The Hemi Chryslers had dominated the 1964 Daytona Speedweeks, but it was a very different picture when the 1965 event rolled around.
The inaugural Daytona 500 had been a huge success with nary a caution to mar the proceedings, so as the Grand National circuit prepared for their second visit.
To those drivers slated to run in the very first Daytona 500, their first glimpse of the brand new speedway must have been awe inspiring. When Bill France Sr. first proposed a 2.5-mile racetrack with high-banked corners, more than a few people scoffed that it would never be built, and some even said it couldn’t …
Before the first Daytona 500 was held at Bill France’s magnificent new superspeedway, NASCAR’s Grand National Division ran on the old beach and road course.
Unlike Nextel Cup, TV ratings for the NASCAR Busch Series actually went up this year. That’s despite the fact the series championship was a literal runaway.
2007 may well be a pivotal year in the sport of NASCAR racing. It might takes a few more years down the road and the retrospect it will offer to see how things play out. But clearly, this is a year of big changes, and for a jaded cynic like myself, the whole shooting match …
Editor’s Note: In honor of Benny Parsons, who died Tuesday at the age of 65, Matt McLaughlin chooses to remember the life Parsons lived on the track… including one incredible championship no one will ever forget. The date was Oct. 21, 1973, and the Winston Cup teams were in Rockingham, N.C. for the final event …
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